HIV-Positive Children On HAART May Need Revaccination HIV-positive children on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) “may need to be revaccinated to maintain their immunity against preventable childhood diseases,” according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, HealthDay/BusinessWeek reports. After reviewing 38 studies, researchers found that children…

The Council of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise on Tuesday released a new strategy for HIV vaccine research, which marked “the culmination of an 18-month effort that included the input of 400 scientists worldwide,” VOA News reports (DeCapua, 9/7).

U.N. Now Estimates 500 Raped In Congo “Approximately 500 women were raped in eastern Congo in July and August,” U.N. officials said Tuesday, revising an earlier report of 242 victims, according to the New York Times. Atul Khare, deputy head of peacekeeping who was sent to the region to investigate,…

Regional Director of WHO for Africa Luis Sambo discussed during the 60th session of the Africa Committee of the WHO how the global economic situation could impact funding for health programs in Africa and the ability for countries to reach U.N. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports.

Congolese Community Leaders Warned U.N. About Security; 240 RapeÂ Victims Now Identified “Congolese community leaders say they begged local U.N. officials and army commanders to protect villagers days before rebels gang-raped scores of people, from a month-old baby boy to a 110-year-old great-great-grandmother,” the Associated Press reports. The Walikale Civil Association…

Monkeypox Prevalence Surges In SmallpoxÂ ‘Vaccine Naive’ In Congo The New York Times reports on monkeypox cases, which are “surging in tropical Africa.” Researchers found that “monkeypox was 20 times as common” in nine rural Congolese districts as it was 30 years ago, theÂ newspaper writes, citing a study published in the…

Malaysia Considers GM Mosquito Release To Control Dengue Fever Malaysia is stillÂ “considering releasing”Â up toÂ 3,000 mosquitoes that are genetically modified to “combat dengue fever, in a landmark field trial that has come in for criticism from environmentalists,” Agence France-Presse reports. The insects are modified “so that their offspring quickly die,” which…

The WHO “has granted prequalification status to Pfizer Inc.’s children’s pneumococcal vaccine, Prevenar 13, paving the way for United Nations agencies and governments to start ordering the product,” the Associated Press reports (8/23).

“Acknowledging that the development of medical countermeasures against bioterrorism threats and pandemic flu is lagging, [U.S.] federal authorities Thursday announced a $1.9 billion makeover of the system for identifying and manufacturing drugs and vaccines for public-health emergencies,” Tribune Company/Seattle Times reports. “The overhaul includes manufacturing refinements aimed at shaving weeks off the time it takes to produce pandemic flu vaccine and a series of steps aimed at more quickly detecting promising scientific discoveries and getting them to market,” the news service writes (Zajac, 8/19).

Active TB “Genetic Signature” Found ResearchersÂ haveÂ identifiedÂ a “genetic signature” in the blood of active tuberculosis patients in the U.K. and South Africa that could one day lead to a test to predict who among latent carriersÂ might develop the disease, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, Reuters reports…